If you’re spending too much money on herbal supplement capsules at the health food store, try making your own DIY herbal supplements! With some very simple equipment, powdered herbs, and about an hour of your time, you can make a stash of homemade herbal supplement capsules that will help you stay healthy and save money.
Can I Really Make My Own Supplement Capsules?
First off, I want to say that this is not rocket science.
It never occurred to me that I could make my own herbal supplement capsules because herbal supplements are things that come from the health food store. I’ve learned to skip the health food store for my herbal supplement capsules and make my own. And you can, too.
If you’d even like to learn to GROW your own herbs for supplements, you can do that below with our easy to read e-book on growing herbs in containers no matter wherever you live.
Why DIY Supplement Capsules
Why?
- It saves you money, especially if you take herbal supplements daily.
- Learning to DIY your capsules will give you more control over the contents – no fillers or weird stuff!
- You can formulate them yourself to fit your body’s needs.
- Making your own herbal supplements will encourage you to learn other DIY skills.
In the time it takes to watch a movie, you can make enough herbal supplements for weeks or even months.
Disclaimer
Remember that the information in this article is not meant to diagnose or contradict anything your chosen medical professional has directed you to do. Do your own research and act responsibly.
Equipment for Herbal Capsules
You will need some basic equipment, all of which can be found online or at your local health food store:
- encapsulating machine
- capsules
- big bowl
- spoon
- canning funnel
- mason jar – or something to put your completed pills into
- filtered face mask – this is technically optional but if you’re doing anything with cayenne, for example, you will really, really, really want one
The kits come with all the parts you’ll need for filling the capsules EXCEPT the capsules themselves. Make sure you order the right size capsules to fit your machine. I repeat, make sure your capsules fit your machine.
Two Sizes of Capsules
There are two sizes of capsules to choose from and, therefore, two sizes of machine.
- The “00” size capsule holds about 735 mg of material
- And the “0” size holds about 500 mg of material, according to The Capsule Connection.
You can order your machine and capsules from them or you can buy them from other places online.
Little kids can have a hard time with the larger pills and they don’t need as high an herbal dose, so you can use the smaller pills for them successfully. Be sure your child can swallow a pill comfortably before making up a big batch of herbal supplements for them.
- If they can’t, make them a tincture, instead.
An adult can ingest smaller capsules, too, of course – the adult just takes more of them.
DIY Supplement Capsules Tutorial
You may want to put a towel underneath your project area to catch fly away herbal material and to protect from any staining.
The first thing you’ll need, apart from your supplies, is a handsome helper. This is actually a great thing for responsible kids to do. Even my five year old can meaningfully contribute to this project! Kids little hands are perfect for completing step one.
- Split your capsules in halves and putting the bottom, larger end in your capsule base (the one with the holes). Put the top halves in the top part of your capsule base (it also has holes, but its not as thick).
2. Double check that all your holes are filled on both halves of the machine. You can shift their positions until you see light reflected in the bottom of the capsules halves. If you try to put a half into an already occupied space, there should be a great deal of resistance and you’ll know that one is already filled. 
3. Next, you start spooning your powdered herb into the larger halved capsules. Spoon it in slowly so you don’t inhale it all. 
4. Then, take the hard plastic scraper and smooth all the herbs down so the surface is flat. 
5. Use your tamper and apply firm pressure to press down your first leveling of herbs.
6. Repeat the process at least once more by spooning in more herbs, leveling them out and tamping them down.
To Finish Your Herbal Supplement Capsules
Finishing up your herbal supplement capsules is actually kind of fun!
- Once you’ve tamped down all the herbal powder and the bottom end of the capsule is full, take the top part of the machine that has the top part of your supplement capsules in it.
- Flip it over so the capsules tops and bottoms are matched up and settle the top down over the bottom like a bowler cap on a fat head. Then, push it down securely. With both hands. Be the boss. Push until you’re confident the two halves are secured together – you can kind of feel it. Its very Zen.
- Take the top part of the machine off and all the tops of your capsules should be secured to your bottoms. Ha, that was a funny sentence to type.
- Flip the machine over at this point and push on the bottom, which releases a lever that pops the capsules out into your waiting bowl.
- Take each one and give them a push on the head to further lock the capsule parts together. That can be an important step if you plan to travel with the capsules. They can pop apart if you don’t lock them manually. You can feel it click so you know when they’re secure.
- After that, just plunk them into a jar and label it. You really want to make sure you don’t forget that part. Ask me how I know that’s important.
Some Combinations to Try for Supplement Capsules
There are a lot of great combination and recipes you can make with your herbal supplement capsules. I like to encapsulate turmeric and ground up rose hips, and take one or two every day. The rose hips have lots of vitamin C and the turmeric is great for inflammation.
>>>>—For a few more ideas, read our post on Wellness Herb Combinations for Health—<<<<
Like I said, if you want lots and lots of ideas, be sure to sign up for one of the online courses at The Herbal Academy. Don’t worry, they have a fabulous beginner course for people who are very new to herbs. They also have advanced courses for those who have some experience with herbs. Click below for more information:
Grinding Herbs for Supplement Capsules
You can buy powdered herbs. However, if you have whole, dried herbs, you can use a mortar and pestle and get the job done well. Hey, it’s a tool that works in any age!
If you’re grinding a lot of material, though, doing it manually can get tedious. Herbal Academy has an article on how to grind herbs in a coffee grinder, which might be more practical for large batches of herbs.
You can also grind a lot of materials in your blender or food processor. I wouldn’t recommend grinding dried roots unless you have a really powerful blender like a Vitamix.
Always use dried herbs for this project. I repeat, always use dried herbs to make your supplements.
Other Herbal Links of Interest
Here are a few more articles we thought might be of interest to you.
Herbal Education Links
Herbal Capsules for Weight Loss
5 Best Tips for Storing Dried Herbs
Free Sample
Don’t forget to email me for your free sample from The Do It Yourself Homestead. We hope the book will be of help to your in your self-sufficient living. Don’t just take our word for it, though – here’s what Joel Salatin had to say about The Do It Yourself Homestead:
I started doing this a few months ago for several supplements. It definitely saves me a bunch of money!
Cathy or anyone else out there , could you please direct me to some recipes for supplements . I cannot seem to find any , I really want to make my own herbal supplements . I have searched the internet for recipes with no luck .
Anything Rosemary Gladstar wrote would be helpful. Find recipes for teas and infusions that sound like they might help you with what you need and then try formulating them as dry supplements. You can also look up Dr. Christopher supplements for what you need and then blend them yourself. All of his publications are worthwhile and helpful. Google his online ones as they’re free to read. I was actually planning a follow up post, so I’m glad you asked that question!
Thank you so much for the reply . I will be doing some work on that today . So looking forward to start making my own supplements ! I will be very interested in reading your upcoming post !!
Cool post, thanks for sharing. Love all the pictures! Kevin.
Thank you for sharing this Tessa! I’ve been wanting to try making our own supplement capsules but never got around to figuring out just HOW to do it. I pinned this and just need to go buy some supplies so I can make our own!
So easy – you’ll be glad you did! Every time I’m too lazy or too sick to make my own I always have heart failure when I pay commercial prices – even on Amazon.
Hi,
I’m wanting to make my own supplement but unsure what percentage of ingredient to add. How do i measure this out and know whats a safe amount of each ingredient to add?
Thank you
Thanks for stopping by, Sian!
Your questions are good ones and the answers are totally dependent on what it is you’re trying to address as regards your health and what herbs you’d like to use. To learn more about herbs, their uses and how to incorporate them into your life, I can suggest any of the written works of Rosemary Gladstar. If you’re looking for an online course, please visit my affiliate The Herbal Academy.
Your questions are excellent but they require a good deal of research before they can be answered. You’ll do well, though, with those resources.
Good day, very interesting article.
I have a question i would like to try making some suplements of seeds, especially grinded apricot seeds for my family, my question is that if works the same for seeds and herbs? Or i need to add something else, is there any risk that it became rotten with time?
Thanks for stopping by, Steve! I have never encapsulated seed before but I would imagine this process would work just as well for that. The seeds would have to be dried well and ground to a powder so that you can work them into capsules, FYI. Once you grind the seed, or the herb for that matter, the nutritional content and effectiveness begins to decrease so you’ll want to consume what you encapsulate in a timely manner. I usually count a supplement as too old if it’s aged a year. It won’t be bad for you after that, it just won’t be as effective.
Does that help answer your question?